''Ruminations'' is the seventh solo studio album by American musician

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander V ...

, released on October 14, 2016 on

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...

. An expanded edition of the album featuring five bonus tracks was released on July 23, 2021.

Background

On October 28, 2015, in the midst of

Desaparecidos An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a State (polity), state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or po ...

' tour for their second studio album ''

Payola Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...

'', it was announced that Conor Oberst had been hospitalized due to " laryngitis, anxiety, and exhaustion," according to a press release. The entirety of Desaparecidos' remaining tour dates were cancelled and Oberst returned to his hometown of Omaha to recuperate. Oberst spent the following months in Omaha, where he wrote and recorded the songs that make up ''Ruminations''.

Recording

The album was recorded in February of 2016 at ARC Studios in Oberst's native

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, with the recording process taking just two days. The album was engineered by Ben Brodin, mixed by

Mike Mogis Michael Riley Mogis (born May 16, 1974) is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios (previously known as Dead Space Recording and, earlier, Whoopass Recor ...

and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Described as an acoustic album, the songs on the album solely feature Oberst and consist of vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica. In a press release, Oberst described ''Ruminations inception: All ten main tracks and five bonus tracks were re-recorded with a full band for Oberst's following album '' Salutations''.

Artwork

The

album artwork An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

features a photograph captured by Julia Brokaw of Oberst playing piano and harmonica with a microphone and sheet music on display, marking the album's low-production and minimal instrumentation.

Background

Recording

Artwork

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

References